As anyone in direct marketing knows, response levels are not quite what we’d like for them to be. They’re one of the most challenging obstacles a company faces. Without response, there is no connection with your target audience, and no connection means no business.

And that’s really bad news, especially in today’s economy.

So when I was given the challenge of designing this year’s spring Week of Prayer mailing, I was a nice mixed bag of emotions. But my primary one was excitement. I adore a good challenge. And the opportunity to design “something beautiful”, as told by my creative director, is unique in today’s modern- and cutting-edge world.

But the response was amazing. 125% increase over the last two years. And that’s just plain good news.

Way overdue for an update. Again. To backtrack a bit: I’m sharing some of the work I did over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays… of 2012. Yes; I am going THAT far back but I feel like I need to show where I’ve been growing exponentially. Granted there is a lot of red in these ads, green isn’t a favored color by my VP and gold is one of those colors that definitely needs to be used intelligently. And without further ado, this is just a little dribble of the work that has been flowing out of my office.

P.S. I will say that this year has been a year of changes, challenges, and reinventing. Love it.

There is a monthly webcast for some of the partners to participate in a Q&A of sorts with the founder of the company and a special guest. Often it is fairly pressing and hot button topics for the far right conservatives and how it concerns Christians. The goal is to peak interest through the visual and encourage participation through the verbiage.

The freedom of creativity with the visuals often fluctuate depending on the topic and the time given to create the art. I’m particularly proud of the torn grunge style flag; it is definitely a more aggressive and modern art approach than is often permitted within the conservative boundaries that tag this company.

Every now and then I get a request from a friend and/or co-workers to tweak an image for them. This latest one was fun; a beautiful church in West Virginia with a goodly amount of power lines obstructing the scenic view. And a meter to boot. The desire was to include the photo of the church on the cover of the member directory and I was more than happy to oblige. I work with CS4 and don’t have that nifty new tool that CS5 has to “smart” stamp out undesirables and so had to use good ol’ imagination and patience to remove the modern encroachments.

Been busy busy busy creating amazing new products; will have to update soon. There is also a great deal of exciting new projects on the horizon as well. So much potential and so little time. Check back soon for updates!

I remember reading the story of Christmas in the little Golden Books as a child and dreaming of how one day I would possibly draw the story myself. What I would do different. What medium I would use. How I would be recognized for the artistic genius that I was.

I challenged myself to the task as a teenager. And immediately was shocked at how difficult it truly was to retell shown a well known story. And I was completely dismayed when my humble artwork fell far short of my childish dreams. Discouraged I put it aside and immediately fell to drawing my favorite Disney characters to put my bruised ego at ease.

A few years ago I was commissioned to draw this blessed story in 9 panels. The images were to be bright, vibrant, and appealing to the young audience. And in that same token also appeal to the older generation.

Anime and caricatures immediately went out the window.

Coming up with the character concepts and mood boards for each one was part of an exciting challenge that my poor starving artist soul desperately needed after having to sideline my career dream of animator to graphic design. The concepts were greeted with great enthusiasm and I was given the green-light to continue with the illustrations.

The story was to follow the Bible as closely as possible and the first 3 panels were given to the immaculate conception, John’s prenatal greeting, and Joseph’s dream. The client wanted to follow historical truth as closely as possible while following the Scripture as well.

I kept in mind the famous blue that follows every image of Mary through the ages. For Elisabeth I remembered, as well, that she had been somewhat advanced in years when she was pregnant with John. And for Joseph, the classic beard that would be traditional among Jewish men at the time.

My chosen medium for this particular project were Prismacolor markers for their saturation and vivid colors that would help the illustrations to jump from the pages. Just a bit nerve wracking for this colored pencil loyalist; but I was a bit concerned with ensuring the comic book brightness once the finished products were scanned for production and maintaining the true colors intended for print.

Let me just, the inner child in me is pretty darned pleased with the end result.